A supply chain is a network of facilities and distribution nodes for use in procuring materials, transforming the materials into semi-finished and finished products, and distributing the finished products to customers.
A product typically includes one or more components that are assembled during a manufacturing process. In this context, a component can be any type of item, ranging from basic material (e.g., plastic) used to manufacture the product to an actual component in the product (e.g., a monitor of a desktop computer). Obtaining a sufficient amount of product in a time-efficient manner can require significant planning.
SUMMARY
In general, in one aspect, the invention is directed to a method of filling a customer sales order for a product. The method includes determining the availability of the product, determining, the components of a product if the product is unavailable, and determining availability of the components from one or more suppliers. This aspect may also include one or more of the features set forth below.
The components may be determined based on a hierarchical break-down of a bill of materials that corresponds to the sales order. The availability of one or more substitute components may be determined if one of the components is unavailable. In this regard, if the components are unavailable, the method may also include determining which components are unavailable and determining substitute components for the unavailable components. If the components are unavailable at a primary location, the method may include determining if the components are available at a secondary location. If the components are available at the secondary location, the method may include issuing a stock transfer order to ship available components at the secondary location to the primary location. The method may be performed using one or more (e.g., a set of) rules restricting determination of availability of the product. The rules may be defined based on a master data sheet of a customer.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, including the claims and drawings.